Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has given out cash prizes and a house to outstanding teachers in the State in commemoration of the 2020 Teachers’ Day on Monday.
Abiodun, who disclosed this while addressing executive members of the Nigerian Union of be Teachers (NUT), Academic Staff Union Secondary Schools (ASUSS) and All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), to mark this year’s World Teachers Day in his office at Oke-Mosan Abeokuta, said the state government has formally instituted a yearly Best Teachers Awards in these categories to appreciate outstanding teachers in the State and those who have distinguished themselves in the course of carrying out their duties.
Mr Odegbola Ayodele, a Junior Secondary School teacher from Abeokuta Grammar school, who was named overall Best Teacher in the State was awarded a two-bedroom bungalow in the State owned Princes Court.
Mr. Adewale Abayomi, from Odua Comprehensive High School, Imoru, who was the Best Teacher in the Senior Secondary category was given the sum of N2.5m and Mrs. Mary Adeyemi from St. Paul’s School II, Sagamu, who was the best Primary School Teacher went home with a cash gift of N2m from the Governor.
Abiodun said the awards are to encourage teachers for efficient service delivery, it is imperative to celebrate those who have shown creativity, dedication and hard work in the course of imparting knowledge to our younger ones.
“We will continue to celebrate innovation. We will encourage consistency. Our administration will continue to make the welfare of our teachers our priority. Our teacher’s reward will not be in heaven, but here on earth”, he said.
Abiodun used the occasion to call on parents to be more involved in caring for their children instead of shifting the responsibility to teachers as the development process of a child would not be complete without the involvement of their parents.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that our children now spend the larger part of their days with teachers. It is alarming to see that in the pursuit of economic fulfilment, many parents have now have left their parental roles to teachers.
“While I call for a rethink by such parents, but in the meantime, I will call on our teachers to help the situation by inculcating in the children, positive attitudes, ideals and virtues. Help us to protect the rights of our children”, Prince Abiodun pleaded.
He said the commemoration of the World’s Teachers Day is significant because it draws attention to the noble role of the teaching profession in nation-building in line with a standard-setting instrument that addresses the status and situations of teachers around the world.
In his remark, the Chairman, Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Titilope Adebajo, while describing teachers as risk takers and mind moulders, called for the introduction of Education Trust Fund to enable government address many challenges facing the education sector.
State Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), Comrade Akeem Lasisi, called for the review of the free education policy to enable participation of parents and corporate entities in fund the sector.
